The Scent of Daisies
by okayokay221b
Summary: This is a one-chapter story that I originally wrote as an English paper. Enjoy :)


"What are your biggest fears?" I could feel Patrick's eyes on me, even without seeing them. He asked me this question often at our Cancer Support Group Meetings. I felt a nudge from the girl next to me, Hazel Lancaster.

"Losing the people I love, from terminal illnesses." was my response. Patrick sighed loud enough for me to hear it from across the circle of chairs.

"Isaac, you have to face it. Go out and live your life. Sometimes we all find ourselves in situations that hurt us. Everyone in this room knows how it feels to be afraid of cancer." Patrick confirmed. I heard some mumbles from the other kids. One girl spoke up.

"We're here for you, Isaac." I recognized the voice as Eve's, a fifteen-year-old survivor of leukemia.

"Of course we are. But Isaac, it's been a year." Patrick said this with as much sympathy as he could muster.

"Eleven months and twelve days, exactly." I corrected him. It has been eleven months and twelve days since my best friend, and Hazel's boyfriend, died. He had osteosarcoma, bone cancer. Patrick sighed again. He sighs a lot.

"Come on Hazel, we're leaving." I reached for her arm. Since Augustus' death, Hazel and I have been there for each other to lean on, literally.

"Isaac, Hazel, wait. We haven't finished yet." I heard Patrick's metal chair fall down as he got up too quickly.

"Sorry Patrick." Hazel mumbled as we stood and walked toward the stairs that would lead us out of Sacred Heart Cultural Church. This time, Patrick did not object.

Once we had gotten to the parking lot, I asked Hazel if she wanted to come over and play "The Price of Dawn". I had a special version of the game, made for blind guys like me. Instead of using a television, you speak into the console and give it directions. We went to my house and played for a few hours.

Later that night, after Hazel had gone home, I was on my bed listening to my ipod when my cellphone rang.

"Hi. It's Hazel."

"Hey Hazel."

"Um… Can we go to a movie?"

"Movies require sight, Hazel." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, see, I sort of have no one else to go with, and going to the theatre by yourself is depressing. Sorry Isaac, I just really don't want to be stuck at my house tonight, because my parents are having some friends over for dinner," she explained. I sighed into the speaker.

"I'll close my eyes and just listen, if you want." she offered.

I let Hazel talk me into it and soon found myself seated in the local theater, holding a box of junior mints. We were seeing the Hobbit Part 2. It was a compromise between my horror film and Hazel's romance movie. I entertained myself while it played by pulling the stuffing out of a hole in my chair. After hearing a ferocious dragon roar, Hazel asked me if she could open her eyes.

"No Hazel, I can't open mine."

"Okay, I won't." she agreed. After another few minutes of roars, screams, and crashes, Hazel whispered,

"I really just want to take a quick peek."

"Hazel." I reached over and put my hand on her eyes. It stayed there until the end of the movie. I stood up the instant I heard the credits song start playing. Hazel took a minute to pick up her portable oxygen tank. She needed it because her Stage-IV thyroid cancer spread to her lungs. Then she slipped her hand in mine and we walked out of the theater.

"Thanks, Isaac. That was fun!" Hazel said, giving me a side hug.

"Yeah, yeah. You're welcome. I'm just glad that it's over."

"Really?! It was the best movie I've ever not-seen!" she said laughing.

"I don't know, movies are just a reminder of all the things I'm missing out on."

"Isaac, I'm sorry. I really am. Look at it this way, you don't have cancer anymore…" she rambled on, telling me all of the things I should be thankful for.

"I guess you're right." I forced myself to smile in her general direction. She squeezed my hand reassuringly.

Hazel drove me home. I wish that it could have been the other way around, but that was another side effect of my eye cancer. On the way to my door, I tripped on a pinecone. Then I took revenge and kicked it as hard as I could. I think it ended up somewhere in Mom's daisies.

The next morning, my dad shook me awake.

"Isaac, get up. Hazel's in the hospital." he told me. I jerked up and hit my dad's head.

"Ow." I mumbled.

After I had gotten dressed, my mom drove me to the hospital, where I sat in the waiting room for hours before they let me in her room. A doctor told me that her lungs had filled up with liquid again and needed to be drained out. She was asleep when I went in, so I just sat by her bed and listened to the TV that was on. I pretended that Hazel was just closing her eyes and listening, instead of sleeping. The show that was on was called "Sherlock" and I made a mental note to rent the season on DVD sometime. Listening was not so bad after all.

"Isaac?" Hazel whispered.

"Hazel! I was scared that you were going to…" my voice trailed off.

"Die? Gosh, I was just sleeping."

"Yeah, but," I shook my head. "I'm just glad you're okay." Something told me Hazel was smiling.

"I brought you some daisies." I set the flowers on her bed.

"They're beautiful." she said happily.

"Good. They smelled good so I thought you would like them."

"I love them!"

"I, uh, hope Augustus doesn't mind." Hazel didn't say anything, so I changed the subject to Sherlock on the TV. She watched it for a while and I let my mind wander. I thought about what Patrick had asked me. Then I realized that life was too short for me to be worrying about all of the things that were different now, without my eyes and without Augustus. At least Hazel and I had eachother.

"We're going to be okay, aren't we?" I asked.

"Okay." Hazel repeated softly before drifting back to sleep.


End file.
